Haha, I've been bitten twice by Apple in the past. iPad 3 was my first - got it launch day for the retina display as my very first iPad. The second time was purchasing a fairly upgraded 2020 i7 13" Macbook Pro in May 2020 to replace my 2013 MBP, which of course 6 months later they announced the M1 chip and transition away from Intel. I still have the i7 MBP and it's works absolutely fine of course, but I will be tempted to trade that in for a 13" M3 MBA whenever that comes out.
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Apple's First M3-Powered Macs Likely to Launch in October
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TSMC's 'problems in producing it' are no different to the yield curves achieved on any new chip? Indeed they are apparently boosting production now, and if you compare yields, TSMC'S production is getting better. The story about problems seem to have evolved from the original report which again was not from TSMC: "“high-volume production with good yield” for 3nm chips, its customers’ demands “exceed our ability to supply.” So even that was not about yield but about customers' demands.
In August 2022 it was reported that the 3nm yield had increased to 80% which is a decent yield by any standard
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Looks like i'll be ordering a new M3 iMac in October and a 16" Macbook Pro in 2024.
Considering that the 15-inch M2 MBA was released just over a month ago, I feel that it's highly unlikely that the MBA lineup will get the M3 chip so soon. Rather, I feel that the M3 13" & 15" MBAs will release together at a later time period.
Given that Apple launched new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models in January, and more recently new 15-inch MacBook Air, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro models in June, Gurman believes the first beneficiaries of the new M3 chip will be the next iMac, 13-inch MacBook Air, and 13-inch MacBook Pro.
Meanwhile, TSMC is building its 2nm fab for opening 2025. https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4946264
Apple's first M3-powered Macs could arrive as early as October, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman said sources tell him an October event will follow Apple's iPhone 15 series announcement in September, and the state of Apple's current product lineup suggests it will focus on new Macs with M3 chips.
Given that Apple launched new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models in January, and more recently new 15-inch MacBook Air, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro models in June, Gurman believes the first beneficiaries of the new M3 chip will be the next iMac, 13-inch MacBook Air, and 13-inch MacBook Pro.
Looking further ahead, new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M3 chips are expected to arrive in early 2024, featuring M3 Pro and M3 Max chips, according to Gurman in a previous report.
The M3 chip is expected to be built on chipmaking partner TSMC's 3nm process, resulting in significant performance and power efficiency improvements over the 5nm-based M2 chip that Apple's most recent Mac models are based on. TSMC kicked off mass production of 3nm chips in late December.
Article Link: Apple's First M3-Powered Macs Likely to Launch in October
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Want to wager a Vision Pro on it? I say if the M3 comes out before the Vision Pro, the Vision Pro has an M3 not M2 in it. Send me a PM and we can determine an escrow agreement. Cheers.
Doubt they'll ever bring Touch Bar to anything but the base-level MacBook "Pro". Can't believe they even sell this. Probably appeals to IT departments.
I don't think they're serious about games on Macs. They've been saying "Macs can game" forever, they never could. The best they've ever reached is gone with Intel CPUs (I had an acceptable Steam library and now it's all useless). I think it's mostly marketing, it both promotes Macs for younger people and gives the impression of power (and the power may be there but the compatibility surely is not).
The situation we have now is probably mostly due to Macs sharing iPhones' architecture. I don't think Apple would try to promote their APIs if they were just for Macs.
Even if the software support was there... why pushing for a technology while it could work decently only on pro Macs, which are a small subset of Macs targeted to non-gamers, while Macs are already a small subset of computers, that can run a subset of games, while only a subset of games, the hardest to run, can benefit of that technology?
I'll push my speculation farther: maybe Ray Tracing won't be a serious thing on Macs until it can run decently on iPhones. So... not in this decade. I'd love to be proven wrong, of course
Most likely they’ll keep selling the M2s though, and adding the M3s at a higher price point. So we might see 13" and 15" M2 at 1099 and 1299, and the M3 models at 1299 and 1499.
Discontinuing the 15" M2 after just four months wouldn’t make sense, and neither would launching the M3 only to put it in desktops.
If the M3 does launch in October, we might see new chips every ± six months: M3 in second half of 2023, M3 Pro/Max in first half of 2024, M3 Ultra in second half of 2024, M4 in first half of 2025, and so on…
The mac product lineup reminds me of the early 90s days of Quadras and Performas. Corporate regression from Steve Jobs' 2x2 product matrix.
What are the chances they bump the base iMac screen to 27 inches? Who buys a 24 inch desktop screen anymore?
(This would leave the "pro" model in 2024 to be 32 inches)
(This would leave the "pro" model in 2024 to be 32 inches)
Apple has never been ashamed to release a product only to immediately replace it later the same year.
It's a good bet that once late 2023 comes around, Gurman will be writing about how Apple "delayed" the introduction of the M3. Two contradictory articles within a "newsletter" are far more profitable than zero.
This seems more like speculation based on prior (incorrect) speculation. I think it is far more likely that the M3 will be emerging in mid-2024 at the earliest, as new features will be best leveraged with new APIs and new subsystems within the OS.
When Steve Jobs went back to Apple in the late 90s he removed 90% of the products Apple was making at that time. So yeah looking at the current Mac lineup today, he would probably be rolling in his grave..
Though seriously, I believe there are no problems with having choices. However, it can be a little confusing when it comes to a buying decision. The 15-inch MBA as an example was a good idea for customers who want a larger screen but don’t need the features of the Pro. But now that it has been launched, some will probably have a hard time choosing between it and the 14-inch MBP. Especially after some configuration with the 15-inch Air, the price gap between them would probably end up being only a few bucks.
Some products are also quite odd in the lineup. The Mac Pro as you mentioned is insanely overpriced compared to the Mac Studio. The 13-inch MBP also kinda makes no sense right now after Apple Silicon. Now, there’s almost no difference between it and the 13-inch MBA on terms of performance. The only differences are that it has a fan, extra two hours of battery life and the TouchBar.. which are not really that big of a deal for most consumers. Most consumers would go for the 13-inch Air because it’s cheaper and it even has a better Webcam. And if you’re a Pro user, you’re more likely to go for the 14-inch and 16-inch MBP models.
Even though I personally own a 13-inch M2 MBP and I absolutely love it, I still think it doesn’t make a lot of sense with the 13-inch MBA around and it’s just a little odd in the Mac lineup. The only thing that made me go for it is because I’m not a really big fan of the new design with the notch, and I don’t really need the 1080P Webcam. But for most people, I get that the 13-inch Air would make more sense.
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And here we are with Apple sporting around a billion happy customers, many repeat. And a market cap valuation of $3 Trillion dollars.
Clearly Apple should go back in time to the good old days of the early 1990s.
I'm certain we'll see a M3 15" MacBook Air this October. The M2 15MBA will remain on sale and the M3 15MBA will start about $200 higher.
Sorry but part of this makes no sense. Why would they exclude the 15" MBA from getting the M3 at the same time the 13" MBP and MBA get them? The 15" uses the SAME CHIP as the 13". The only logic behind this would be so Apple doesn't make users of the M2 15" MBA cry? So now people will be upset because Apple is updating hardware too frequently instead of not fast enough? LOL.
I agree. I'd expect to see all / most of the products that use the base Mx chip to get upgraded at the same time. I see no reason why you'd split release of the Airs. Release both 13" and 15" together.
I’m ready for iMac Pro with M3 Pro/Max chips and 30-32 inch display. 😎
There will be no M3 15" MacBook Air coming this October (2023). My guestimate is M3 MacBook Air's won't come out until some time in the first half of next year.
Same with my M2 13-inch MBP ! It’s actually my first macOS machine ever after coming from Windows, but I absolutely love the TouchBar !! ❤️
Perhaps my favorite thing about it is that you can actually skip YouTube ads using it lol
There is no M3 coming in October, not for the Macs at least. I won’t be surprised if the new iPhone 15 is announced with an “M3”, and the Vision Pro gets a silent update to M3 before launch as a “look what Apple just did for you for “free””, but the M3 will start out in the 13” and 15”MacBook Air, 13” MacBook Pro and the 24” iMac and I wouldn’t expect to see that before March/April of 2024. To many people projecting their wishes and not injecting enough cold hard reality into their comments here.
Take away the M2 MBP and the Mac lineup is very much a clean one.
I doubt it is.
Like, yes, that's what they announced, but mostly to say "you can expect at least the performance of a MacBook Air". As in, faster than an iPhone, and much faster than a Meta Quest Pro or HoloLens 2, etc.
Exactly. The cores will be two and a half years old (iPhone 13's A15, September 2021). The SoC will be nearly two years old (MacBook Air, June 2022).
If they do give it an M2, it could be that it's a special variant on a newer process node. This wouldn't be unprecedented; the A9X was a different process than the A9, for example. But I don't see why they wouldn't just go with the M3.
And this isn't like the iPhone where they sell 200M a year and 60M in the holiday quarter, so they don't need to ramp up production half a year ahead. So the design of the logic board doesn't need to be set in stone quite as ahead as it does with the iPhone.
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